I havent been covering the happenings in Iraq, but  i decided i wanted to look a recent article about the body of US soldier, Private Jospeh Anzack being found in Iraq. Ii located the story intially in The Sydney Morning Herald and im interested to see whether the coverage and angle is the same. i am assuming the American papers will have a more emotive story. The Sydney Morning Herald (May 24)  tells the story in an objective position and a more narrative style.

The US military confirmed today that a body pulled from the Euphrates River near Baghdad was that of one of three missing US soldiers. Iraqi police said yesterday they had found the corpse of a Western-looking man in the river in the Mussayab area 60 kilometres south of Baghdad.

The body, wearing US Army-issue pants and boots, had bullet wounds and signs of torture.

Private Anzack went missing with two comrades after their patrol was ambushed on May 12 in Mahmudiya in the Triangle of Death, an insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad.

i should also note that the story was not a headliner, however it was the first story in the ‘world’ section. 

The story was harder to locate in the Daily Telegraph, Adelaide Advertiser, the Brisbane Times and the Age. The story wasnt written in the world section but in the “for more headlines click here” section. I thought it was interesting that the Aus papers, bar the SMH didnt place this story under great importance, perhaps because it is not longer surprising that people are getting killed in Iraq and also becasue (proximity wise) they story wasnt close to home - all of the stories were written exactly the same too.

I then went to look at the American papers and the headliner in the New York times was “Body found in Iraq is that of missing G.I” – just as a suspected. The first thing i noticed before even reading it was the length of the article, unlike the Australian papers which featured a story 250 words long, the Times has over 2 pages of information made up of 800 words. The Times was much more in depth in their article.

 The article includes emotive language which makes me feel like the story had more impact upon the American journalist than it did on the Aus writer. 

 The discovery brought the first signs of closure to a massive manhunt that has gone on for 11 days, with thousands of American and Iraqi troops searching day and night for the missing soldiers. But for the men and women who lost friends, it was hardly enough.

the discovery brought a mix of sadness and relief to the search parties.  

Word of the body being discovered spread quickly on Wednesday night among the troops.

 The article incudes finer details that are more relevant to the American people Military officials on Wednesday declined to provide details on the location or condition of the body and cut off Internet and telephone access for soldiers at bases to limit rumors. “We will give the truth to the families first,” said Maj. Webster Wright, a spokesman for the Second Brigade Combat Team, which has been leading the search. In the dining hall at a United States base here on Wednesday night, American soldiers gathered around televisions, anxiously watching cable news reports about the discovery of the body.

I was actually suprised that the story wasnt in the leading headlines in The Chicage Tribune. it has a small headline, halfway down the world section, however is was quite a long story – even longer than the Times, though is wasnt as emotional or deep as the Times.

The story was structured very much like a narrative, with greater emphasis placed on the discovery of the body and not not so much the reactions to the discovery.

 villagers found the body late Wednesday morning where it had been snagged on reeds and jetsam under a highway bridge near Musayyib  

some 4,000 U.S. troops and 2,000 Iraqis… For 11 days in temperatures over 110 degrees, they have searched through muddy canals and hostile villages

The body found Wednesday had come to rest against a bridge pylon in Musayyib. It was sighted by a pushcart vendor, who told police the body was wearing military pants.

Local residents initially thought the body probably belonged to an Iraqi soldier. “Many bodies are found in this place,” Muhammad Abd Ali, a police officer manning a nearby checkpoint, said in a telephone interview from Musayyib. “But I never imagined I would find a dead American soldier in this area.” Bystanders watched from the bridge as four police officers made their way down the bank. To help out, they hailed men in boats who had experience retrieving bodies from the river.

Not suprisingly the story was 4th down on the website under headlines in the Los Angeles Times, i assumed it would be a leading story becasue of the proximity newsvalues, i also expected it to be long for the same reason. The article was only 700 words but was structured differently, in a report format, using bold heading such as “found near market place” “rumours about death”

The article goes a step further into the families grief which i think would actually impact more upon families who have loved ones serving in Iraq – the following sentences brings the reality of what the soldiers are doing and the danger they are in so much closer to mind,  

But in
Torrance on Wednesday evening, where friends and relatives gathered at the modest, second-story apartment of the local soldier’s father, Joseph Anzack Sr., the anxious waiting for news was over.

A witness said a military officer wearing a beret entered the home about 5 p.m. and stayed for about an hour. Another man, believed to be a chaplain, arrived a short time later and also stayed in the apartment about an hour. A small group of
Torrance police officers also came to the apartment complex, protecting the family’s privacy.

The soldier’s aunt, Debbie Anzack, said she was in the apartment when the military officer told the family that the dead serviceman “was Joe.” Fighting back tears, she said, “It’s unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”

Debbie Anzack said her brother, the soldier’s father, would provide a statement regarding his son’s death this morning. “Right now, he is devastated,” she said of her brother. “He doesn’t want to cry on television.”

i think this kind of emotional writing can only come from someone who feels closer to the incident. I dont think journalists in other countires would be so descriptive or engaging if they wrote those sentences. I couldnt actually locate an article on the story in the Independent UK – I did type Anzack into the search engine but got no results. i did the same thing for the UK Gaurdian and retireved one article. the article was interesting actually becasue it didnt have that much about Anzack, but used Anzack to lead into other troubles in Iraq,

The three were taken after an ambush south of Baghdad on May 12. The kidnappings have attracted a lot of attention in the US media, which long ago showed fatigue had set in with the regular defence department announcements of casualties.

The Pentagon reported that another nine soldiers had been killed in five separate incidents yesterday and on Monday, turning May into one of the bloodiest months for Americans since the 2003 invasion, with 81 killed so far. The total US death toll in Iraq now stands at 3,423

President George Bush, in a speech at a coastguard academy in New London, Connecticut, yesterday blamed the rising death toll primarily on al-Qaida. “As we’ve surged our forces in Iraq, al-Qaida has responded with a surge of its own.” He said Iraq was vital to the US and that failure would put the US at risk from terrorist attacks. He cited a US intelligence report that had previously been classified as evidence that Osama bin Laden had ordered the late al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to mount attacks abroad, particularly in the US.

Part of his speech was aimed at Democrats in Congress opposed to the war and who have been pushing for withdrawal. On Tuesday the Democrats abandoned their attempts to link a timetable for withdrawal to a bill providing billions in funding for the war.

 Summarising what i have found, the Australian papers used exactly the same story to inform Aus about the soldiers death, which leads me to believe that they didnt think the story was overally important as none of the papers did their own investigations. The American papers undoubtely covered the story in the most depth, looking at all angles such as the discovery, the impact of the family and the concern about the two soldiers that disappeared with Anzack that are still missing. the UK papers were the most interesting i thought because they focused very little on the actual story and decided to take the political angle of the story, perhaps becasue this is what would interest their audience more?

The news values present in this story

impact/consequence – this story features both. Impact on the family, the govt, other soldiers. consequence – what does this mean for the other soldiers who are still missing? and for the Govt?

timeliness – yes, becasue the soldiers have been missing for a fortnight, it is a big story to cover as one of them has turned up dead.

proximity – very relevant and obvious in this story. the Aus papers covered the story generally, probably because there are alot of Aus soldiers planted in Iraq at the moment too so out interest is definately invested there. most obvious in the American papers as they dedicate more words, angles and informatoin to the story. The UK papers do little to hide the fact that there are more important stories out there to them

prominence – since his disappearance, Anzack has become a prominent figure, however it is sad that his death will not stand out in our society and his importance will fade over time.

currency - Iraq has flooded and dominated the media for the past years. currency is definately a news value.

Human interest - at the moment there isnt alot of human interest in this particular story - although i think this will change over time. as the family is able to talk i think more features articles will come out of this story.